The 10 Best Horror Movies Of The Past 10 Years

We’re getting closer and closer to the one day a year cosplay is nationally acceptable —Halloween. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been giving you scary streaming suggestion after scary screaming suggestion so you can load up your queue in horrific antici …. pation, but we’re getting close to the big event. It’s time to stop playing around.

You’re a high-class streamer who only deserves the best caliber of scary movie. We get it, and we have you covered. Below is our list of ten of the best horror movies to come out over the past decade. This is not a definitive list or a definitive ranking, but it’s a good start and a great reminder that there have been some incredible horror movies that have been released over the past few years. Turn off the lights and start loading up your queues. You have new classics to explore.

‘The Host’ (2006)

This South Korean film may be the last truly great monster flick we’ve had in the last decade. When a deadly creature created from toxic chemicals and American indifference abducts a little girl, it’s up to her family to save her. The Host has been universally acclaimed and for good reason. That monster is terrifying.

‘Hush’ (2016)

This slasher movie plays with one of the most powerful components of horror that we never think about: sound. Starring Katie Siegel and John Gallagher Jr., Hush follows a deaf author who is stalked one night by a crazed, bow-wielding psychopath. It’s a battle of wits and survival between these two characters that plays with sound and perception in innovative ways.

‘The Witch’ (2015)

Who knew that the scariest character of 2015 would be a goat? Set in 1630s New England, Robert Egger’s haunting story about one farming family in hiding is as quietly suspenseful as it is gorgeously composed. After the youngest son disappears, the family’s loyalty and love for each other is tested as accusations of witchcraft abound.

‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2011)

This Joss Whedon movie is not so much a traditional thriller than it is a loving ode to horror movies throughout the years. Half parody, half original horror story and with a dash of camp thrown in for good measure, Cabin in the Woods follow a group of college kids who take an Evil Dead-esque vacation in the woods. At least, that’s how it starts. By the movie’s end, it nosedives into insanity in a way that will be happily discussed for years to come.

‘It Follows’ (2014)

Photo: Everett Collection

It’s simplicity that makes It Follows so terrifying. There’s no giant monster. There are no elaborate plots. There is only a fatal curse that will stop at nothing to get you. This movie relies on our base human fear of being stalked to invoke terror, and it works, often far too well.

‘Drag Me to Hell’ (2009)

Photo: Universal Pictures; Courtesy Everett Collection

Co-written and directed by one of the masters of the genre, Sam Raimi, Drag Me to Hell skillfully blends the two genres that Raimi knows best: horror and comedy. After choosing not to extend a Romani woman’s mortgage, a loan officer has a cursed placed on her that will ultimately — you guessed it — drag her to hell. Heads up, there are a lot of gross out moments, but there’s also a lot of fun. Also, it’s widely believed that this Raimi film is actually a smartly disturbing parable about eating disorders.

‘Paranormal Activity’ (2007)

Photo: Everett Collection

Forget the stupid sequels with their Xbox Kinects and insistence on filming unmanned Ouija boards. The first Paranormal Activity was a brilliant scary movie that breathed new life into the found footage subgenre as well as ghost stories. This movie’s use of sound and carefully selected shots, specifically the ending scene, have haunted countless nightmares.

‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)

This Swedish romantic horror movie based on the novel of the same name follows a bullied 12-year-old boy who develops a friendship with a vampire child. Let the Right One In intentionally dismisses horror tropes to focus on the relationship between its central characters, and the result is powerful. This isn’t a typical scary watch, but it’s a beautiful one.

‘Black Swan’ (2010)

Photo: Everett Collection

Starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, this film about love and ballet may be more dramatic thriller than strict horror, but it still retains all of the traditional horror beats. Nina and Lily’s twisted friendship and romance as the White Swan and the Black Swan will be remembered with shudders for years to come.

‘The Babadook’ (2014)

This Australian psychological horror movie is one of those films that even looks unsettling. A homage to German expressionism, The Babadook follows a troubled and sleep deprived widow as she cares for her son, who is the worse child in the world. However, when a mysterious children’s book appears, their lives change for the worse.